"It
was a mistake to bring them, Priam," Conner spoke sharply, his
voice low, "did you forget who we're going after? Madleh, the
butcher of men?"

"Conner,"
Priam started.

"They're
children, Priam. This is their first time out in the big, bad world
as assassins. Their first missions should be guarding royalty or
gathering information. Oh wait, that's what they're supposed to
be doing, but you've insisted that we don't tell Volker, or even
communicate with Umbriss at all. Usually, you are the voice of reason
here."

"Conner,
shut up. I'm tired of this pointless chase. One town after another,
blindly stumbling into traps and ambushes. I want to get this over
with now."

"You're
bringing children, Priam," Conner repeated, "Erynn and Teague
aren't ready for this. This mission puts them in danger, and us as
well, because now we are responsible for their lives as well as our
own. And Arden as well, both ways. For all the progress he has made,
he's still more at home in a library than a battlefield."

"If
we deliver them to safety, we'll be much too late to catch Madleh,"
Priam countered, hissing the words, "If we leave them here, along
the path, they'll be much worse off. This place will be a
battlefield soon, Conner. At least we can keep and eye on them when
they are with us."

"Not
acceptable. I am willing to risk my life, Priam, but not theirs. This
is not their battle."

"As
your friend and mentor, I ask you to trust me."

"Don't
pull that card."

"They
can do it. They may not have the experience, but they are competent
people. I feel we will have need of their skills yet."

"Can
we at least let Volker know that we have them?" Conner asked.

"Once
we tell Volker that, and where we are, he will know we are going
after Madleh." Priam reminded him.

"He
can't stop us when we're this close. And besides, I'd feel a
lot better know that the old man didn't worry about two of the
graduates of this most recent class."

"What
about Lysander?" Priam asked

Conner
grunted, "Alright, so Volker is already losing sleep about someone
in the most recent class."

"Well,
I meant what are we going to do about him? Erynn and Teague heard a
rumor that he has been seen in the area. What should we do if he
turns up?"

Conner
made an exasperated noise, "I was under the impression that this
was your plan, Priam. Why are you asking me to finish it for you?"

"I
ask for your advice because he is your student. Your protégé.
Don't you feel you should have some say in his regard?"

"He's
a grown man. He's older than I am, if you'd believe it. He can
take care of himself. We'll look for him after."

"That's
a reversal of your first position. Care for the others, but not him?"

"Don't
make this about that. Lysander has been out in this world before.
He's fought and suffered. Erynn's lived her life in a palace,
Teague spent his watching over his brothers and sisters and tending
to sheep, and this is the first time in years Arden has been outside
a library for more than a week."

"Lysander
is still our ward."

"Well,
what do you suggest we do then?"

"He
is suffering, Conner. I don't have Erynn's link to him through
Thesia, but just take a look at her. What is happening to him is
happening to her as well. There is corruption in him or his
activities. Can't you feel it?"

Conner
tossed a look over his shoulder. The other three rode behind them,
their horses maintaining the moderate pace. Erynn rode in the front
of the group, her horse just abreast of Arden's. Teague rode behind
the pair, alternating glares at Arden's back, and furtive glances
at Erynn's. The two were talking and laughing about something,
Arden gesturing with his hands. Though Erynn's expression was
merry, Conner could see shades of regret and pain in her blue eyes.

Conner
turned back to Priam, "You don't fight fair, my friend. Pitting
her suffering against my suffering? Find Lysander or find Madleh.
What a companion you must be to force a choice as that on me."

"It
is a choice everyone must make. Do we fight for ourselves, or do we
fight for others?"

"You
make it then!" Conner shouted, clearly agitated. The conversations
behind them stopped.

"I
made it a long time ago, Conner. I chose to fight for myself. I left
you in the care of Umbriss and threw myself at the world. I fought
and fought, and never made any progress. I didn't solve my problem,
and I sure didn't solve anyone else's."

Conner
hauled on the reins, pulling his mount up close to Priam's.

"Don't
do that to me," he grabbed a fistful of the man's tunic. "Don't
you dare."

"No,
Priam. I'm putting the world above myself here. I want more than
anything to find Lysander. I shouldn't have waited this long to do
so. That was the selfish part. However, Madleh has loosed an army
upon the world. As much as I care about all of you, I have a duty
to this world. I'm an assassin, the same as every one of you,
and our first obligation is to this world. Let us not forget that."

He
turned in his saddle. The other four were staring at him, Teague in
confusion, Arden in understanding, and Priam beamed with pride.

"But we are assassins, and we cherish our friends," Conner
finished, "if we come across Lysander or his trail, we will do
everything in our power to recover him on our way."

"This
is the oddest thing," Erynn said, glancing up and down the deserted
corridors of the keep, "We haven't seen more than fifty people
since we've gotten in here, and you're positive most of whom
we've seen have been travelers. Have you ever seen a town like this
before?"

"They're
all gone, Erynn. An army is more than just warriors," Conner
stalked the halls in front of her, clearly not used to the
architecture of the southern coastal palaces, "they need cooks and
hunters, runners and message boys. I can't say the feeling of an
empty town is unnerving, but I've seen it before."

"How
can you be so calm about this?"

"Because,
right now, the absence of this town's population means our mission
is that much easier. Less people means less guards, less guards means
less people to fight, and less people to fight means we can focus on
fighting the ones that are here," We'll worry about the army
later, after we've accomplished our mission here."

"You've
been sounding more and more like Priam these last few days," Erynn
tugged on his arm, "are you feeling alright?"

The
group had split up, Conner and Erynn searching the administrative
center and palace for Madleh, while Priam, Teague and Arden trolled
the affluent sections of town for a house or villa he might reside
in.

"I'm
tired, Erynn," he stopped in the hallway and turned to face her, "I
may not be old, but I am tired. I have been working for this world,
behind its back, for about half of my life. No thanks, no gratitude,
and it never gets better," he spat sharply, lashing out with his
foot and splintering an innocent wooden table.

"Conner,"
she started, but he cut her off.

"I've
lost friends, Erynn. Family. I'm starting to lose myself. I need to
end this. We're so close I can feel it."

"What
are you talking about?"

"Madleh
will die by my sword tonight, or I will die by his. There is no other
option. Do not stand in my way."

Erynn
took a step back from him, "Conner, you're scaring me."

"You
should be scared, Erynn. Have they not told you what is going on?"

She
nodded, "We're stopping a war."

"There's
no stopping this war. Somewhere, it has already begun, I'm sure.
Men will die and nations will fall because of us. Because we're
dragging them into this war. What we're doing here is keeping it
from embroiling the entire world. I'm sorry for frightening you,
but you must know."

"Why
are you telling me this?"

"Because
likely, you'll have to kill tonight. The first blood on your hands,
Erynn. And believe me, the first blood doesn't come off as easy as
the blood that comes after. Do you understand?"

"Conner,"
her face twisted with emotion, "How can you be so calm about this?"

"I'm
not. You don't know how many pieces my heart has been rent into.
But people are counting on me to do my job here, and I have to bury
it until I have time to mourn."

Erynn
slid an arm around his waist, and buried her face in the folds of his
cloak. They stood in silence for a moment, and Conner rocked her
slowly, "You alright?"

She
swallowed audibly, and nodded her head. Conner felt tears roll off of
her chin and land on his arm.

"It's
not an easy path we've picked, is it?"

She
shook her head.

"Let's
get this over with so we can find Lysander. I'm sure once we get
that off of our chests, we can give this pain some closure."

Nodding
again, she pulled away and wiped her sleeve across her face, "I'm
ready to do this."

Conner
nodded, "I don't want you going into the throne room with me. I
want you to stay outside."

"I
can fight," she protested.

"I
am counting on that. You're going to keep the guards from entering
the room while I'm in there. I don't need that sort of
distraction. Besides, the hallway will give you an advantage with
that stick you insist on fighting with," he wagged a hand in the
spear she was carrying.

"It's
a much more elegant weapon that most," she argued.

"I'd
agree, but—" he stopped suddenly, winking out of sight.

A
guard stepped out of a doorway, a puzzled expression on his face.

"Are
you lost, girly?" his gaze flicked suspiciously to the spear in her
hand.

"No
I'm—" she started, trying to stall for time. It didn't take
long before his throat was a geyser of blood, cut quickly and neatly
by Conner.

"Come
on, it won't take them too long to figure out we're here. I want
to be as done as possible when that happens," he smiled as he
reappeared, wiping his sword clean on the guard's tunic, "If all
goes well, our deeds here will save thousands of lives."

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